They could save us all. With an estimated $5tn (£3tn) in their coffers, the world’s sovereign wealth funds could bail out the UK and the eurozone, and have change to run a G20 economy.
Able to wield billions from manufacturing and commodity surpluses, their money is seductive and their investments, usually large, make eye- catching headlines on the business pages. But with so much cash at hand, level- headed finance directors could be forgiven for thinking that one of these sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) could be the answer to their investment worries………………………………………..Full Article: Source

As the global financial landscape becomes more heavily regulated and previous sources of capital either stay away from the market or are prohibited by regulators, sovereign wealth funds are likely to gain in prominence, according to Massimiliano Castelli, Head of Global Strategy for Sovereign Wealth Funds(SWFs) at UBS Global Asset Management. In a recent interview on Opalesque Radio, Castelli, explained that the global economy is entering into a,”war for capital,” which will make traditional sources of capital more scarce, but may also provide increased opportunity for SWFs which have more flexibility when it comes to investing.
Currently, SWFs manage approximately $5tn in assets, a larger sum than the amount of assets managed by hedge funds or private equity but still less than that managed by the largest institutional investors or insurance companies. This number is rapidly increasing, however, and Castelli forecasts that it will reach between $8-10tn by 2016………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Sovereign wealth fund Qatar Holdings is in a unique position as Glencore battles to convince shareholders in U.K.-listed miner Xstrata that its proposed merger of the two firms would be in their best interests.
Qatar says it wants more bang for its buck from the deal and is pushing Glencore to up the ratio of its shares it will pay for each Xstrata share from 2.8 to 3.25. It’s taken the unusual step of making its comments on the matter public. And it has adopted a tough negotiating stance behind the scenes, according to people familiar with the matter, saying pay up, or you lose our support………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Gas-rich Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund plans to build luxury hotels in Malaysia, Paris, London and China named after Harrods, the world’s famous department store, a report said Wednesday.
Under a $636 million plan Qatar Holding will partner a local Malaysian firm Jerantas to construct a hotel in Kuala Lumpur’s golden triangle’s shopping district of Bukit Bintang………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings is expected to shed more light in its annual review on how it plans to reshuffle its portfolio as Asian bank shares slump, and where its European strategy stands as the euro zone debt crisis heads towards its fourth year.
Sovereign wealth funds such as China Investment Corp are struggling to deliver decent shareholder returns at a time when the European crisis and an anaemic U.S. economy are depressing capital markets from Brazil to Hong Kong. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 10.4 percent in the year ended March………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Ms Vivien Chen, the Chief Administrative Officer of The Government of Singapore Investment Corp. has retired after 28 years with the sovereign wealth fund, the Dow Jones news agency reported on Wednesday, citing a GIC spokeswoman.
Ms Chen, who left at the end of June, was appointed as chief administrative officer in 2009 to oversee business functions across GIC. She was earlier in charge of investment operations and corporate planning at the fund……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Central Huijin Investment Ltd, an arm of sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corp, continued its purchase of major banks’ shares in the second quarter, according to a statement released on July 3.
The major shareholder in China’s main State-owned banks bought 7 million shares of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd and 762,600 shares of Bank of China Ltd………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Asia-based investment industry CEOs are exploring how to tap institutional capital and rich individuals in the Middle East.
“We see some demand [for Asian products],” Yoshihiro Matsuzaki, CEO of Tokio Marine AMI, adds. “For example, sovereign wealth funds are using consultants, so if you have a good rating with consultants already, you have a good chance of doing business there.”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan, known as Sofaz, expects a 28 percent increase in budget revenue this year after crude prices exceeded government forecasts.
Projected 2012 revenue was boosted to $13.7 billion from $10.7 billion by a presidential decree, Sofaz said today in an e-mailed statement. It didn’t specify its oil price forecasts………………………………………..Full Article: Source

A regular full meeting of the board of directors of the Sovereign Wealth Fund Samruk-Kazyna chaired by Prime Minister Karim Massimov was held on July 3. A plan of the board of directors for the second half of the year was approved, the fund said.
The order of evaluating Samruk-Kazyna corporate governance has been approved during a meeting. The procedure has been developed on the basis of diagnostic techniques of corporate governance in the companies of Samruk-Kazyna. The principles of international best practice of the corporate governance have been laid in its basis………………………………………..Full Article: Source